Timing can make a difference, especially when it comes to health-related concerns. Specifically for diabetic patients, a hypoglycemic attack can happen when they least expect it. Attacks are difficult enough as it is when people are around, thanks to the confusion that occurs shortly before it happens. However, attacks are worse when they happen when you’re alone. Technology has given us the tools to mitigate such diseases, but sometimes, we can’t control when attacks will strike. Thankfully, engineers at MIT have created an implantable device for diabetic patients that acts as an emergency device for when blood sugars hit a low level.
Automated emergency injection
For most people, hypoglycemic attacks are rare occurrences. An occasional symptom of overexertion, lack of sleep, or just skipping a meal. For those affected by Type 1 diabetes, it is a daily risk. They have two injections to consider: insulin for lowering blood sugar levels and glucagon for when the insulin has lowered the blood sugar too much. In the case of the latter, a hypoglycemia attack happens when a person’s sugar levels get dangerously low.
That must have been what led the team at MIT to develop a device that rethinks injections as a 3D-printed implantable polymer reservoir of powdered glucagon, about the size of a quarter. It is sealed with a shape-memory alloy. As its name suggests, it changes shape when heated, allowing for the glucagon to be released. During lab tests done on rats, the researchers successfully saw blood sugar levels rise back up after it was activated.
Even for adults, catching the symptoms in time can be challenging, let alone dealing with the attack while the body is ready to faint. What’s even scarier is that diabetes Type 1, also known as juvenile diabetes, is most often diagnosed in childhood, which means that the attack can also happen to children. While the injections are there to help regulate sugar levels, the difficulty happens when no one is there to administer them to the patient. The implantable injection will act as an emergency aid when a hypoglycemia attack happens.
Conceptual medical solution
The implantable device from MIT is a proof of concept that can have positive results in the medtech world. Researchers have already proven the same procedure with epinephrine, a drug against heart attacks and severe allergic reactions. The potential of having lots of subcutaneous implants all for different diseases that could just activate in case anything goes wrong might sound strange. However, it is comforting to know that there’s a solution when illnesses hit you, even at the most inopportune times.
Photo credits: The featured image is symbolic and has been taken by Sam Moghadam. The image used in the body of the article has been provided by MIT researchers for press usage.
Source: Anne Trafton (MIT News)
